What if?
by musicluver4ever11
Summary: What if Jarod arrived at Emily's office just a few seconds earlier?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jarod arrived at the building in Philadelphia where his sister, Emily, worked. Suddenly, he heard a woman's scream. He looked up just in time to see a woman be pushed out a third floor window.

"EMILY!" he cried, a million calculations running through his mind as he ran.

Keeping his eyes on the woman, he stopped just where the woman was due to land. Just a few seconds later, he caught her with a grunt. Passersby gasped in amazement as Jarod took his sister over to where his car was waiting.

"Jarod?" she whispered as Jarod closed the door to the passenger-side door. He crossed to the other side of the vehicle. A gasp escaped his mouth as he looked back at the building. Jarod jumped into the car and immediately stuck the key in the ignition. He backed out as fast as he safely could and tore down the street. Car horns honked as he turned the car onto the street.

"What are you doing?" Emily cried, hanging onto the armrests for dear life.

"Keeping us safe. Hang on!" Jarod cried, turning onto the freeway. Once there, he obeyed the speed limit of 75.

"Who are you?" Emily asked.

"My name is Jarod. I'm your brother."

"Jarod? Dad told me about you. What about…?"

"Kyle died trying to protect me from the man who pushed you out the window."

"What? No!" Emily's eyes filled with tears and she buried her face in her hands.

Emily dried her tearstained face and took a few deep breaths before speaking again.

"Jarod, there's another man out there. I've been doing research on him. His name is Ethan. I think he's our brother as well."

"We'll find him. What do you know about him?"

"All of my research is back at my office. Where are we going anyway?"

"As far away from Philadelphia as we can get for the day."

"Who was that man back there? You looked like you'd seen a ghost."

"His name is Mr. Lyle. He works for the company that took me when I was four."

"Why was he trying to kill me? He doesn't even know me!"

"I guess he must have figured out that you're my sister and thought that by getting to you, he'd get to me."

"Must have worked. How'd you find out where I work?"

"I've been in communication with dad. He told me he'd found you."

"Where's dad? Why wasn't he with you?"

"I don't know. We found each other for a time, but lost each other again a few days ago."

"We're going to find him, right?"

"Yes, Emily. I promise."

They drove until midnight when they arrived at a hotel in Georgia. Emily was fast asleep when they arrived.

"Emily, wake up. We're here." Jarod replied, gently shaking her awake.

They checked in and retired to their room, a two-bedroom suite, for a peaceful night's sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next day, Jarod and Emily checked out of the hotel and went on a quick shopping trip to buy a new outfit for each of them. Jarod bought a shirt with Hawaiian flowers and a new pair of jeans. Emily bought a new blouse and skirt. After shopping, the two of them went out to the car and drove away.

"Jarod, has dad contacted you at all?"Emily asked.

"Not since he told me where you work. I tried to video call him last night, but he wasn't there." Jarod replied.

"Or he doesn't trust the security of video calls anymore. If that's the case, we'll probably never hear from him." Emily replied.

"Not true, Em. I happen to have a phone number for him. My phone's untraceable." Jarod replied.

"Really? Jarod, we have to find out where he is. If the Centre tried to kill me, who knows what they'll do to dad!" Emily replied.

Jarod took out his cell phone and dialed Major Charles' cell number.

_We're sorry. The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected or is unavailable at this time._

Jarod grunted in frustration as he threw his cell phone in the back seat.

"Jarod, what happened?" Emily asked.

"I can't reach dad." Jarod replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked.

"His phone is either disconnected or unavailable. Either his phone's battery is dead, he hasn't turned it on, or he's trying to tell us something's wrong. We should find him quickly. Do you have any idea where he might be, Em?"

"When I talked to him last, he was in Florida. He was planning on coming down to see me next week."

"Ok. We'll hop onto the I-10 and go to Florida. We'll search everywhere, Em."

Meanwhile, in a house in Fort Lauderdale, Mr. Lyle was pacing. He had captured Major Charles and tried to reach Jarod, but his phone was busy. He had taken Jarod's cell number from Sydney's call log and programmed it into his phone.

"What are you going to do to me?" Major Charles asked.

"It's Jarod I want. You're being used as bait."

"Jarod will never fall for this. He's too smart for that."

"How can you be so sure? You're his father. He's waited his whole life to meet you. He's not about to let anything happen to you."

Back on the I-10, Jarod and Emily crossed the state line into Florida. Their first stop was Tallahassee. They stayed in a hotel for the night since they'd driven all day. Jarod's stamina surprised Emily. How he could drive all day was beyond her. After they arrived at their hotel room (which had two beds and a television), Jarod fell asleep right away. Emily eventually became bored after emailing her next article. She saw what looked like a briefcase on the table. The latch was unlocked, so she walked over to close it. When she tried to latch it, a small disk fell out. Emily picked up the disk and opened the briefcase to put the disk back in and noticed a small screen inside. Curious, she looked and saw a disk drive on the bottom. She inserted the disk and watched as a younger version of her brother performed a SIM. He was sitting in a big plastic ball with wires connected to him.

_Jarod, you must give up! It's too hot. You've been in there for three days!_ A man said.

_Never, Sydney. I must get to my family. I'll never give up. Not until I get home._

Aroused by the sudden noise, Jarod awoke.

"Quite a life I had, huh?" Jarod asked.

"Why did they do that to you? How could they get away with doing something like this to you?"

"The government doesn't even know what goes on in there. They wanted to see how I would respond in certain situations. Sometimes they would have me look at pictures or develop a vaccine. Eventually I found out that they were using my SIMS for evil and escaped with the DSAs that contained my work."

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, Jarod. I can't believe a place like that exists!"

They talked for a few more minutes before they both felt sleepy and slept the night away.


End file.
